Oil-burner.



, PATENTED NOV..8, 1903.

P. A GURTIS.

OIL BURNER. APPLICATION PIYLED FEB. 24, 1903.

2 SHEETS-$112121 1.

N0 MODEL.

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No,743,376. 'PATENTED NOV. 3, 190s.

F. A. CURTIS.

OIL BURNER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24, 1903.

N0 MODEL. 4 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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Patented November 3, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERIC A. CURTIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

OIL-BURNER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 743,376, dated November 3, 1903.

Application filed February 24, 1903. Serial No- 144.589. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, FREDERIC A. CURTIS, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil-Burners; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form' part of this specification.

This invention is an improvement in oil-' its object is to produce a burner of very simple construction which will not readily clog with resins or carbons in the oil and which can be very conveniently and inexpensively taken apart and cleaned if it should after long usage become choked.

The advantages of my invention will be hereinafter set forth and more readily under stood as the construction of the burner is explained.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an efficient form of the burner, and I will describe the same with reference to said drawings, referring to the claims following the description for summaries of the essential features and combination of parts for which protection is desired.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a detail vertical section through the complete burner as applied to an ordinary heating-stove. Fig. 2 is a side view of the burner removed. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the tank portion of the burner. Fig. 4 is an inverted plan view of the retort, and Fig. 5 is a detail view ofone form of spreader which may be employed.

The burner is composed of two principal parts, a font portion A and a superimposed removable retort portion B, in addition to which, if desired, a deflector C may be placed upon the retort to spread the flame.

The font A is disk-shaped in plan, having an upstanding circumferential flange a and an interior depending conical flange a, which has a central aperture 0. through which any deposits on the cone can escape. Between the flanges a and a is a depending annular oil chamber or well A, which is closed at top by a permeable annular plate A which may be of asbestos, and is tightly fitted over the open firing at the edges of said plate.

upper end of the oil-well, so that no oil can escape therefrom except by filtration or capillary action through the plate. Over the plate a is also preferably placed a larger annular permeable plate A which assists in closing the oil-well and also in diifusing oil over the upper surface of the font A. This plate A may also be of asbestos, which is what I have been using in practice, althoughI do not restrict myself to permeable plates of asbestos. Oil is supplied to the font by means of a pipe A, which leads to a suitable oilreservoir, (not shown,) which maybe located in any convenient position adjacent to or remote from the stove, as desired. It is preferable, however, to locate the reservoir in such positionthat the oil will feed by gravity to the well A under very low head or pressure, as the oil is not subjected to any appreciable back pressure from the gases generated by the heatin chamber A, the heat and flame all being above the permeable plate A Superimposed on the font A and resting upon the plate A is an annular retort B, which is centered upon the tank-by means of the flange a and is provided on its inner edge with a depending flange b,which assists in retainin g the plate A in position and prevents This retort is arch-shaped in cross-section at any point and is preferably provided on the lowerinner edges of its opposite sides with flanges B and B which extend toward each other sufficiently to overlap the underlying edges of the plate A as indicated in Fig. 1, the weight of the retort assisting in holding the plates A A in position. The outer flange B is provided with numerous recesses of in its under side, the tops of which extend above the top of the adjacent flange a, and air can pass through these recesses 0r openings 6 into the retort. The flanges B are provided also at several points with recesses b, forming gasescape openings or 'passagesby which the.

gases generated in the retort escape into the central chamber of the burner above the cone a. The interior of retort-B forms the primary combustion-chamber of the burner, while the space inclosed by the retort and above the cone a forms the secondary combustion-chamber of the burner, and this chamber may be partially closed at top by a deflector C, which is a plate-casting provided with lugs 0, restl heated, the flow of oil through the plaice A ing upon the retort and centering the deflector thereon, and with peripheral notches 0', through which the burning gases can escape. The deflector may also, if desired, be provided with small perforations or holes for the direct upward escape of the gases.

The burner is designed to be used within an inclosing chamber, such as the fire-pot of an ordinary stove, and in the drawings it is shown as within an ordinary cylinder-stove resting on a grate s, which may be of any suitable construction and surrounded by an ordinary fire-pot or cylinder S. It is desirable to prevent air rising around the exterior of the burner into the fire-chamber of the stove, and for this purpose a cut-off plate D may be employed, which is centrally apertured to fit around the exterior of the retort, the edges resting on a shoulder 12 on the retort above the air-inlet openings 1), while the exterior edges of the cut-off plate Dcan be fitted closely against the inner wall of the cylinder S. This plate D effectually prevents air rising above the burner exterior thereto and directs it into the retort through openings b The cut-off plate may be of any suitable material. I find a refractory sheet of asbestos very efficient, and such a sheet can be easily cut, so as to fit the fire-chamber of any stove in which the burner may be located. A metallic cut-off plate could be used, if preferred.

Operation: The oil is admitted into the font-well A under very light head, mere gravital feed being sufficient, so as to fill this well and saturate the permeable plates A A and it can be lighted, if desired, by simply lifting the retort B and applyinga match directly to the oil on the surface of plate A and then dropping the retort back into place, or the oil may be allowed to filtrate through the plates A A onto the cone a and lighted by lifting the plate 0 and putting a burner or torch into the central combustion-chamber, or for convenience in lighting an asbes tos cone a may be placedon top of the cone a and as soon as this is soaked with oil it can be lighted by dropping a match or other igniting device into the secondary chamber through an opening in the plate 0 or by lifting said plate. Whichever way the burner is lighted, as soon as the oil is ignited the flame rises in the retort and burns freely therein, air being supplied to support combustion through the openings 1) in great quantity. The intlowing air takes up part of the oil-vapor on the plate B and mixes with the oil-vapors in the retort and then escapes into the central combustion-chamber of the burner through the openings b, where it is further mixed with air rising through the central openings a and a secondary and final combustion occurs in said chamber, the commingled air and oil gases burning as they pass outward through the apertures in the spreader-plates C. When the parts of the burner become thoroughly is partially arrested, said plates heating and partially gasifying the oil filtering therethrough, so that no carbon is deposited and the flames become more inter se, the oil being practically gasified by t-le burner when in full heated operation. When thoroughly heated, no carbon is deposited in the retort or burner and any carbon that might possibly be deposited in the primary ignition of the burner is consumed, and the burner thus keeps itself thoroughly cleaned in all parts.

The supply of oil to the burner can be easily regulated by a Valve A of any suitable construction, preferablya needle-valve, placed in the supply-pipe A. -By properly adjusting this valve the size of the flame can be increased or diminished at will by regulating the supply of oil into well A. As no flame or gas is generated in this well, there is no back pressure on the oil therein, and hence no force feed is required, nor need the tank be elevated a distance above the burner, and, if desired, the tank can be located near to the burner, there being no danger of an explosion, since no air or flame can enter the oil-well, the plates A A effectually preventing this.

It will be seen that the burner is perfectly simple in construction and requires no e'xpert knowledge to enable it to be placed in position or operated. There are no parts which are liable to be burned out or destroyed quickly by heat. l/Vhen using very crude oils, the permeable plates maygradually clog; but as they are preferably made of asbestos they can be easily removed and replaced by new ones, as any one can cut them from sheetasbestos, using the old ones as patterns. The heat deflected and conducted to part A assists in thinning the oil and facilitating the dissemination thereof through the plates A A and this facilitates the economical and perfect operation of the device. The oil appears on the surface of plate A in a finelycomminuted state and in the best condition for immediate gasifioation and oxidation, and the air entering through the jets 19 assists in establishing a whirl of gases through the retort and alsoin forcing jets of burning gases and air into the secondary combustion-chamber beneath the deflector-plate. The burner provides for thorough commingling of the oilgases and air, insuring economical and approximately perfect consumption of all the fuel elements ,in the oil, obtaining the greatest heat therefrom, and the draft of air through the ports I) is increased by the natural up pull produced by the flames escaping beneath and through the plate 0 from the secondary combustion-chamber.

In the construction shown only one burner is employed, placed concentrically of the firechamber; but for larger stoves a number of burners may be used, if desired, dispersed over the grate-surface, each burner being supplied from the reservoir by'an individual ICC pipe, so that any one or more of such burners may be employed.

The burners may be used in any cooking or heating stoves or furnaces by suitably locating them therein as described, and of course may also be used in especially-designed stoves, if desired, to sell the stoves as complete oil-heaters; but I primarily intend to sell the burners for use in already-constructed stoves.

If desired, a perforated plate A may be placed below the cone or, so as to lessen the efiect of air-gusts below the burner, which might have a tendency to chill the secondary combustion-chamber or cause the flames to smoke. This plate may be made in conical form, as indicated in Fig. l of the drawings; but I do not consider it as an essential feature of the invention.

While I have shown the burner made in annular form, I do not wish to restrict myself to such form, as the shape thereof may be varied to suit the stove or location in which the burner is employed.

Having thus described my invention, What I therefore claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent thereon, is

1. An improved oil-burner, comprising an oil-well, a permeable top plate closing the well, a permeable plate or layer upon the top plate, a retort resting upon said permeable layer having air-inlets and gas-outlets near its lower edges, a cut-0E plate exterior to said retort and above the air-inlets, and a spreaderplate on top of said retort.

2. An improved oil-burner, comprising an oil chamber or Well, having a permeable top plate, a drip-cone, a removable retort archshaped in cross-section, resting upon said permeable plate, provided with exterior air-inlets and interior gas-outlets, means for supplying said well with oil, and a spreader-plate,

substantially as described.

3. An improved oil-burner, comprising an oil tank or well having an open top, a permeable top plate closing the tank or well,a permeable plate or layer upon the tank-closing plate, a removable retort resting upon said permeable layer having exterior air-inlets and interior air-outlets near its lower edge, a cutoif plate exterior to said retort and above the air-inlets, and a spreader-plate on top of said retort.

4. An improved oil-burner, comprisingan annular oil chamber or well, having a permeable top plate, a central drip-cone, a removable annular retort arch-shaped in crosssection, resting upon said permeable plate, provided with exterior air-inlets and interior gaseoutlets, means for supplying said well with oil, and a cut-off exterior to the retort.

5. The herein-described oil-burner, comprising an oil-well, a permeable top plate closing the well, a permeable layer above said plate, a retort having an opening in its bottom over said top plate, air-inlets above said top plate in its lower edge and exterior side,

and exterior outlets above said plate on its lower edge and internal side.

6. The herein-described oil-burner,.comprising an oil-well, a permeable top plate closing the well, a permeable layer above said plate, a removable retort having an opening in its bottom over said top plate, air-inlets above said top plate in its lower edge and exterior side, and exterior outlets above said plate on its lower edge and internal side, and a cut-off plate exterior to theretort and above the air in the openings, and means for supplying oil to said well, substantially as described.

7. The herein-described oil-burner, comprising an annular oil-well open at top, a permeable top plate closing the well, a permeable layer above said plate, a removable annular retort having inwardlyextending flanges on its bottom overlapping said top plate, air-inlets above said top plate in its lower edge and exterior side, and exterior outlets above said plate on its lower edge and internal side.

8. The herein-described oiLbnrner, comprising an annular oil-well open attop, a permeable top plate closing the well, a permeable layer above said plate, a removable annular retort having an opening in its bottom over said top plate, air-inlets above said top plate in its lower edge and exterior side and exterior outlets above said plate on its lower edge and internal side, a cut-oh? plate exterior to the retort and above the air in the openings, a spreader-plate resting upon the retort, and means for supplying oil to said well, substantially as described.

9. An oil-burner having an oil-chamber covered by a permeable plate, and a hollow retort above said plate forming a primary combustion and mixing chamber above the plate, and provided with air-inlet and gasoutlet openings near its lower edge, substantially as and for the purpose described.

10. An improved oil-burner, comprising an oil-well, a permeable top-plate closing the well, a retort arch-shaped in cross-section resting upon said oil-Welland covering the top-plate, and having air-inlets and gas-out lets near its lower edges, said retort forming a primary combustion and mixing chamber, substantially as and for. the purpose described.

11. An oil-burner having an oil-chamber ICO covered by a permeable plate, a removable retort archshaped in cross section above said plate provided with air-inlet and gas-outlet openings near its lower edges, an oil'supply to said chamber, and a spreader-plate above the retort, said retort forming a primary combustion and mixing chamber, substantially as and for the purpose described.

12. The herein-described oil-burner comprising an annular oil-well having an opening in its top, a permeable plate covering said In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

FREDERIO A. CURTIS.

Witnesses:

. ALICE TEGELER,

ARTHUR E. DoWELL. 

